Impact of copper and cobalt-based metal-organic framework materials on the performance and stability of hole-transfer layer (HTL)-free perovskite solar cells and carbon-based.

This article investigates the impact of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), specifically focusing on the type of metal and the morphology of the MOF. Two types of MOFs, copper-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Cu-BTC MOF) with spherical morphology and cobalt-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Co-BTC MOF) with rod morphology, are synthesized and spin-coated on TiO2 substrates to form FTO/TiO2/MOF/CH3NH3PbI3/C-paste PSCs. The morphology and size of the MOFs are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the crystallinity and residual PbI2 of the perovskite films are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the Co-BTC MOF PSC exhibits the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.4% and the best stability, retaining 82% of its initial PCE after 264 h of storage in ambient air. The improved performance and stability are attributed to the enhanced crystallinity and reduced residual PbI2 of the perovskite film after Co-BTC MOF modification. The paper showcases the immense potential of MOF-based interlayers to revolutionize PSC technology, offering a path toward next-generation solar cells with enhanced performance and longevity.

Investigation of Dracocephalum extract based on bulk and nanometer size as green corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in different corrosive media.

In recent years, green corrosion inhibitors derived from natural plant resources have garnered much interest. In the present work, at first, we investigated the corrosion behavior of mild steel (st-37) in the presence, and absence of Dracocephalum extract based on bulk size as a corrosion inhibitor in two widely used acidic environments (0.5 M H2SO4, and 1.0 M HCl), at room temperature. Then, we used Dracocephalum extract based on nanometer size to reduce the optimal concentration of inhibitor, increase the corrosion resistant, and efficiency. Dracocephalum extract does not contain heavy metals or other toxic compounds, and also good characteristics such as low cost, eco-friendly, and widespread availability, make it suitable nature candidate as an environmentally safe green inhibitor. The anticorrosive behavior was assessed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and potentiodynamic polarization (PP). In all of the studies, the inhibitory efficiency (IE%) increased as the extract dose was increased. But by using nano extract, in addition to maintaining high efficiency, the amount of inhibitor was reduced significantly. The highest IE% is 94% at the best dose of nano extract (75 ppm), but the highest IE% is 89% at the best dose of the bulk extract (200 ppm) in H2SO4 solution. Also, for the HCl solution, the highest IE% is 88% at the best dose of nano extract (100 ppm), but the highest IE% is 90% at the best dose of the bulk extract (400 ppm), by polarization method. The PP results suggest that this compound has an effect on both anodic, and cathodic processes, and that it adsorbs on mild steel surface according to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, and a solid UV-Visible reflection spectrum were used to investigate the alloys' surface morphology.

SnO2@ZnO nanocomposites doped polyaniline polymer for high performance of HTM-free perovskite solar cells and carbon-based.

Herein, at first, green SnO2@ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized using Calotropis plant extract as an electron transfer material (ETM) to fabricate low-temperature-processed perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Then, the polyaniline (PANI) polymer was applied as an efficient additive to improve perovskite film quality. Under the effects of the small content of PANI additive, the quality of perovskite films is enhanced, which showed higher crystallinity in (110) crystal plane; also, the perovskite grains were found to be enlarged from 342 to 588 nm. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the prepared PSCs with SnO2@ZnO.PANI nanocomposites electron transfer layer (ETL) increased by 3.12%, compared with the PCE of SnO2@ZnO nanocomposites. The perovskite devices using SnO2@ZnO.PANI nanocomposites ETL have shown good stability during 480 h of tests. Furthermore, the optimal PSCs were fabricated by the mp-TiO2/SnO2@ZnO.PANI nanocomposites as ETL, which has a power conversion efficiency of 15.45%. We expect that these results will boost the development of low-temperature ETL, which is essential for the commercializing of high-performance, stable, and flexible perovskite solar cells.

Effect of dye complex structure on performance in DSSCs; An experimental and theoretical study.

Use of cobalt-complexes as dye in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been a viable contender in the field of photovoltaics due to their low cost, easy production, and wide availability of sources. In this study, we investigated the effect of succinic acid (suc), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (BTC) as ligand in metals complex sensitizers with these general formulas: (1) [Co(suc)]n, (2) [Co2(suc)2(phen)2], (3) [Co3(BTC)2(H2O)n]n, and (4) [Co(HBTC) (phen) (H2O)2]; for DSSCs. The bandgap, and energy levels have an important role in photoelectron emission during photovoltaic processes. The bandgap, and energy levels of these dyes (1-4) were estimated by Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis), spectroscopies, and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Delocalized π-electron of phenanthroline in two compounds (2, 4) by effectively reducing band gap energies leads to power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.511%, and 1.006%, respectively. Their PCEs to compounds (1, 3) showed an approximate increase of 60%, and 31%, respectively. Furthermore, BTC ligands by more coordinated carboxylate groups in contrast with succinic molecules due to binding sites with TiO2 cause further enhancement in the efficiency for compounds (3, 4) in contrast with compounds (1, 2). Reasonable agreement is found between experimental and theoretical values calculated using density functional theory (DFT) for the bandgaps and energy levels.